Chernobyl

Chernobyl became famous as the site of a catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred in April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Pripyat, Ukraine. The explosion and ensuing fire released mass quantities of radioactive particles into the atmosphere, which spread over much of the western USSR and Europe. It is the worst nuclear power plant accident in history in terms of cost and casualties and is one of only two classified as a level 7 event -- the maximum classification on the International Nuclear Event Scale. Only the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011 comes close.

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On the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear plant explosion, it's time to go in, get a little dose of radiation, and otherwise find out what all the fuss is about!

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There certainly is no shortage of danger signs as you drive closer to the Exclusion Zone.

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Chernobyl entry marker.

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Memorial park dedicated to all those who were killed or evacuated. This path depicts the names of all of the villages that were forcibly evacuated.

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One of the creepier places in Chernobyl to visit, an abandoned kindergarten. There's something about dolls that have been blasted by radiation and covered with three decades worth of dust that makes them so photogenic.

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First glimpses of the doomed reactor (on the right), and the massive steel sarcophagus that is currently being constructed to cover it (on the left). One of the reasons I wanted to visit Chernobyl now was because 2016 will be the last chance to see the actual reactor. After the steel structure is rolled over the reactor to cover it later this year, it will remain hidden for at least the next century as the radiation slowly burns off.

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Heading over to the workers cafeteria for lunch, greeted by the sight of radiation detectors at the entrance. You stand on the platform and hold your hands up to either side of the machine. Everything is then scanned for radioactive particles, from the top of your head to the undersides of your shoes.

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One thing that is quite common inside the exclusion zone is memorials. Many of the early first responders were the first to die; most probably weren't even aware of the lethal conditions they were working in until it was too late.

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Prometheus statue at Chernobyl.

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As close to Reactor #4 as a civilian can get. Frankly, I'm surprised they let us get this close.

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Military checkpoint inside a military checkpoint. Once you're inside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, you need additional permission to pass through this checkpoint to get into Pripyat proper. This is the city that used to house the majority of the Chernobyl workforce.

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Touring the dead city of Pripyat. Here is the abandoned Polissya Hotel. The former parking lot is covered with sprouting trees as nature slowly re-claims the city.

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Hollowed out remains of the Culture Palace. Notice trees growing from within the first and second (!) floors of this building.

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What was once a library...

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Pripyat amusement park bumper cars. Still in place 30 years later.

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One of the iconic symbols of the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown, Pripyat's idle rusting ferris wheel.

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Checking the ferris wheel grounds for radioactivity. The highest readings come from cracks in the ground and near large quantities of moss, which apparently are quite efficient at absorbing mass amounts of radioactive particles.

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Pripyat swimming pool.

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Decaying floors and ceilings. Eventually things will deteriorate so badly that it won't be possible to go inside any of the structures.

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What's left of Pripyat's supermarket.

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Beautiful tilework on the exterior of the Prometheus Cinema. Too bad it is slowly falling apart and pieces of tile litter the ground now.

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Picturesque remains of the interior of the Prometheus Cinema.

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Music school next to the Prometheus Cinema. One lonely piano still survives on stage despite the panels having dropped from the ceiling.

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The infamous top secret base that housed the massive Russian Duga radar system. Not-so-affectionately called the "Russian woodpecker," this 10 megawatt station caused regular interference on ham radio bands, shortwave, air traffic control systems, and a host of other receivers in the 1970s and 80s. Many speculated it was part of a secret Russian mind control or climate control attempt, but in reality it -- together with a similar setup in Siberia -- served as the USSR's over-the-horizon early warning radar system.

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Old command and control center for the Russian Duga radar system.

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Walking down some very long and very dark hallways in the Russian Duga radar support buildings. I kept waiting for the zombies to jump out at me.

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Ever wonder what the inside of a cooling tower at a nuclear power plant looks like? Time to drive over and check it out.

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High dive into an empty pool, and what the bottom of a swimming pool with no water looks like.

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Abandoned classroom.

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One of the creepier images in Chernobyl, that of a doll wearing a gas mask atop an entire classroom floor covered with gas masks.

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Doll's head among a sea of gas mask parts.

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Gas mask on classroom desk.

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Another eerie image from this schoolroom of horrors: a lone gas mask hanging from a clip.

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It's only from the top of an abandoned apartment high rise that one can truly appreciate the scale of this abandoned city. Trees are slowly taking over roads and swallowing buildings. On the far horizon is the brand new steel sarcophagus built to cover the contaminated Reactor #4.

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Ghostly remains of a hospital in Chernobyl.

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Broken hospital elevator doors and an empty shaft that leads to the bowels of the earth.

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Chernobyl Firefighters Memorial. The plaque reads, "Those Who Saved The World."

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Leaving the Exclusion Zone, you have to pass two separate radiation scans, the second one more sensitive than the first. Our guide says that every now and then a tourist sets off the alarm. They have to isolate what part of the clothes came into contact with something radioactive, and then cut out that piece. If your shoes set off the alarm, you have to leave them behind!